An article in Chalkbeat dives into the impact of new curriculum being implemented in Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD). Leading Educators CEO Chong-Hao Fu explains the importance of great curriculum.

“The core is about evidence, the evidence coming from the text as opposed to pulling from anywhere,” said Chong-Hao Fu, CEO of Leading Educators, a nonprofit headquartered in New Orleans that trained Detroit teachers in the new English Language Arts curriculum. “We’re just starting to realize that what makes good readers is knowledge of the world.”

A new partnership between DPSCD and Leading Educators builds on DPSCD’s master teacher initiative with a focus on helping teachers make instructional decisions that accelerate learning breakthroughs. Over the next year, Leading Educators and DPSCD will increase district-level capacity for continuous improvement, scale shared leadership that allows master educators to mentor peer teachers, and implement regular collaborative learning opportunities for ELA teachers.

TULSA, OK - Nearly one year ago, Leading Educators launched an innovative partnership with Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) to help teachers foster equity in the classroom by developing their practice. Today, these efforts are the focus of a new publication, “Taking Coherence Across the Chasm”, which highlights the importance of adopting a coherent instructional approach and districts who are leading the way.

Every day, educators make countless in-the-moment decisions that shape a student’s opportunities to learn. Before this point, many teachers spend 7-8 hours per week searching for instructional materials to supplement their lessons, which is neither a good use of their time nor a reliable way to ensure students engage with the content they need. Instead, when schools and districts adopt a coherent instructional system that aligns time for meaningful collaboration, quality curricular materials, and supports for strong teaching and learning, teachers are more likely to create teaching experiences that set up every student to succeed.

TPS is among a group of “early adopters,” visionary districts who have been willing to experiment with new ideas and pursue innovative systemic change. This approach could be misperceived as risky, so leaders at TPS made concerted efforts to coordinate a network of support partners including Leading Educators, TNTP, and Education Resource Strategies who could bring expertise and technical assistance to the design and implementation. This required setting a strong vision with a narrow yet deep focus on instructional improvement to succeed. One year into a five-year roll-out of Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), there is promising evidence that the conditions for effective teaching and learning are improving.

In the piece, TPS Deputy Chief of Academics Danielle Neves shares, “CKLA takes a long time. [The curriculum] requires 120 minutes for K-2, 150-180 in grade 3, and 90 in grades 4-5.” The authors note that, without thoughtful design, either the curriculum would be implemented poorly or leaders would have to let go of other priorities.

Early adopters like TPS are critical to generating new learning and establishing proof points of practices and strategies that may work in other systems. Devin Fletcher, Chief Talent and Learning Officer at TPS, shares “Teachers are rapidly building their knowledge both in content and the pedagogical process. [Seeing the progress] from where they self-assessed at the beginning to where they are now is exciting.”

Grantmakers and mission investors have an important role in helping coherence take hold at large: increasing compatibility with existing systems and initiatives, providing capital for iterative product and service development, and building research and evidence-sharing capacity. Learn more at leadingeducators.org/coherence.

LEADING EDUCATORS LAUNCHES PARTNERSHIP WITH DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS COMMUNITY DISTRICTProfessional learning approach will help teachers bring engaging English language arts lessons to life

July 22, 2019

DETROIT, MI - This week, master educators and English language arts (ELA) teachers from high schools across Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) begin their participation in a new effort to foster excellent and equitable teaching.

Launched in partnership with Leading Educators, a national nonprofit focused on systemic improvement, the program builds on DPSCD’s master teacher initiative with a focus on helping teachers make instructional decisions that accelerate learning breakthroughs. School systems across the country like DPSCD are recognizing the importance of an instructional approach that leverages high-quality curriculum, opportunities for teachers to build knowledge and skill together, and supportive school conditions. When teachers have effective opportunities to grow in their practice, schools are better equipped to ensure every student succeeds in school and in life.

Over the next year, Leading Educators and DPSCD will increase district-level capacity for continuous improvement, scale shared leadership that allows master educators to mentor peer teachers, and implement regular collaborative learning opportunities for ELA teachers. Master teachers will have access to additional supports including monthly professional development workshops, opportunities to analyze data and prepare for facilitation, and instructional leadership coaching.

Leading Educators is a recognized innovator of curriculum-based professional learning design for school systems through their work with school systems including DC Public Schools, Tulsa Public Schools, and public charter school networks in more than 15 cities in the United States.

Leading Educators CEO Chong-Hao Fu shared, “Teachers need to feel comfortable finding balance in making instructional decisions that meet every students’ needs without feeling overwhelmed. This partnership builds on the powerful work that DPSCD has been doing to align teacher support and high-quality curricula. It’s a huge opportunity to bridge classrooms to foster schools where teachers work together to bring powerful lessons to life every day, knowing how to serve diverse learners without sacrificing the integrity of their content.”

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ABOUT LEADING EDUCATORS

Leading Educators is helping education leaders build sustainable environments where teachers and students thrive, igniting the potential for exponential impact in schools and across districts. We partner with states, districts, and public charter networks to design curriculum-based learning and support structures that create the conditions for continuous improvements in teaching across their schools--helping teachers create excellent and equitable student experiences every day. www.leadingeducators.org

Leading Educators’ innovative partnership with Tulsa Public Schools is the focus of a new article in Forbes. Chong-Hao Fu, Leading Educators CEO, explains how increasing district-level supports for teacher-leaders leads to continuous improvement in schools.

“When you do this [approach],” Fu said, “not only are you generating student gains, but you’ve built up the leadership capacity and you’re growing the amazing teachers that you already have in your school building … so it is something that can be sustained over time.”

LEADING EDUCATORS LAUNCHES INNOVATIVE TEACHER DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY WITH TPS

Professional learning approach will dramatically expand supports for content mastery

TULSA, Okla. - May 14, 2018

Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) launched Empower, a dynamic professional learning strategy that will incorporate focused collaboration into the day-to-day work of teachers, in 10 schools this weekend.

Building on the district’s “Destination Excellence” vision of inspiring and preparing every student to love learning and achieve ambitious goals, Empower creates weekly opportunities for teams of teachers in a content area to lead collaborative learning and practice in rigorous standards and pedagogical best practices. The program, developed in partnership with Leading Educators, stems from a central belief that schools are a critical unit of social change, and teacher leaders should be drivers of that change in pursuit of equity. In order for schools and districts to achieve equitable student outcomes, all students need to consistently experience rigorous and joyful learning and great teaching.

Danielle Neves, the Executive Director of Teaching and Learning for TPS, shared, “Meeting our ambitious goals for students will require outstanding learning for our educators that is grounded in content and curricula, happening day-to-day and week-to-week in schools, and led by and for teachers. Leading Educators is supporting us, but it is our work as a district, our vision, our ambitious goals for students.”

Leading Educators began planning with TPS one year ago to ensure that conditions and leadership at all levels of the district would be prepared for an effective roll-out. The program is designed to gradually scale over a multi-year arc so support structures and planning systems become fully embedded in the district’s operations. This approach offers greater consistency and relevance relative to traditional, outside professional development options and focuses district-led work on iterative practice known to directly effect to student learning.

Leading Educators has worked with Education Resource Strategies to help school leaders align time, people, and money to schools’ priorities. Each Empower school’s content-specific teams will experience 90 minutes of collaborative learning time within their master schedule each week - an increase of 30 minutes over previous years. TNTP supported this planning by conducting classroom walkthroughs meant to assess current instruction across the district.

The Empower program’s first cohort of 55 educators was inducted on Saturday, May 12th in Tulsa.

“We believe we can accomplish something incredible together in Tulsa that radically changes expectations for what our teachers and students can collectively achieve when effectively supported to master strong content,” said Chong-Hao Fu, Leading Educators’ current Chief Learning Officer and incoming Chief Executive Officer.

Photo courtesy of Tulsa Public Schools

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ABOUT LEADING EDUCATORS

Leading Educators is a national nonprofit organization founded in New Orleans that seeks to improve student achievement by leveraging the positive impact of experienced teachers who take on leadership positions in their schools. We partner with states, districts, and public charter networks to design learning systems that develop the instructional skills and content knowledge of teachers so they can reach better, more equitable student outcomes. www.leadingeducators.org